Perforated card reading and analyzing device



Sept; 12, 1933.

J. R. PEIRCE PERFORATED CARD READING AND ANALYZIG DEVICE Filed 0ol',.`17. 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. l2, 1933. J. R. PEIRCE PERFORATED CARDREADING AND ANALYZING DEVICE Filed Oct. 17, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept.l2, 1933. ll R, PEIRCE 1,926,882

PERFORATED CARD READING AND ANALYZING DEVICE Filed Oot. 17. 1929 5Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGA.

vmbo@ Hayden Peir'c e SePf- 12, 1933. J. R. PIRCE 1,926,882 j PERFORATEDCARD READING AND ANALYZING DEVICE I Filed oct. 17. 19294 5 sheets-sheet'4 Fgfs. 32 Sb '35.l

53 97a V. @Mggggmnallw noe'mtoz Sept. 12, 1933. J. R. PEIRCE4 PERFORTEDCARD READING AND' ANALYZING DEVICE Filed Oct. 1'7, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5t Snom/Hoz lzz PozdenPe/Tce 111:5 @M01/n Patented Sept. 1 2, 1933v yAUIWTED smrs PATENT oFricE PERFORAT-ED CARD READING AND ANALYZING DEVICEApplication october 17,1929. seriaiNo. 400,307

claims. (ci. 2351-02) y This invention relates to analyzing devices for.

perforated card controlled accounting machines and more particularly tothe perforation sensing devices and the mechanism controlled thereby forcontrolling the accumulators.

' One object of the invention is to devise means whereby theperforations of the record card may be analyzed by sensing pins and thereading taken by the pins'converted by electrical devices which in turncontrol-the accumulator wheels.

Another object is to devise means whereby the perforation sensing pinswill effect a setting of brushes with respect to their commutators tocontrol the timing of the electric circuits for f controllingtheoperation of the accumulator wheels.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of an analyzing unitadapted to be applied to tabulating machines of the well known Hollerithtype.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the device shown in Fig'. 1 with the side platein position and showing the driving mechanisms on the outside of theplate.

Fig. 3 is `a detail ofthe accumulators.

Fig. 4 is a wir-ing diagram ofthe electric cir- Y cuits controlled bythesensing pins and in turn controlling the accumulator magnets.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic development of the commutators used in theanalyzer. Fig. 6 is a portion of a perforated record used to control themachine and showing the code or arrangement of the perforations torepresent they individual digits.

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line '7 7 of Fig. 2 showingthe mountingof the commutators and the drive therefor. L

Fig. 8 is a section through two of the commutator units showing themanner in which they are assembled.

Fig. 9 is a detail of an accumulator wheel and the drive therefor.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail, parts being shown in section, of thesensing pins, the brushes controlled thereby and the commutators withwhich the brushes cooperate. v

In the well known Hollerith tabulators, ac-

-cumulators similar to that'shown in Fig. 3 are employed in which aconstantly rotating shaft under sensing brushes, the 9 passing under thebrush rst, followed by thev 8 and then the 7, etc. The accumulatordriving shaft turns synchro-` nously with the passage of the `successivehole positions of the card under the brush. If a hole appears in the 9position, the accumulator clutch is thrown in and the accumulatorcommences to. turn and continues to turn until the end of a card cycleafter which it is de-clutched. During this cycle the accumulator Wheelturns to accumulate the vvalue 9 If a perforation appears at some otherpoint inthe column, as for instance at the 5 position, the clutchingtakes place at a correspondingly later time in the cycle and continuesto the end of the cycle, adding 5 to the accumu- 70 lator wheel beforethe/de-clutching takes place. InV the present invention I use the sametype of accumulator, operating synchronously with commutators which inturn control electric circuits to energize the accumulator control maglnets at different" times during the cycle of operation depending uponthe amount to be added to the accumulator wheel. -The time in the cyclewhen a circuit will be established through the commutators to theaccumulator control mag- 30 nets, depends upon the position of thebrushes with respect to the commutators which in turn is controlled bythe sensing pins. Instead of using ten hole positions in a column torepresent a digit, I usebut four positions and instead of reading thecard while it is moving past the brushes, I stop it in the sensingposition and project the pins against the 'card to sense theperforation? therein. One or more perforations in the four positions areused to represent any given digit in accordance with the Well knownPeirce combinational hole system. I

In Fig. l the perforated cards 1 are shown stackedin a hopper 2 mountedbetween the supporting plates 3. A weight 4 presses the cards down inthe hopper. A narrow slot 5 Vat the bottom of the hopper is adapted topermit but one card to pass through at a time. The card picker 6 isadapted to grip the lowermost card of the stack and advance it throughthe slot 5. The picker is mounted on sliding member .'i carried in thegrooves 8 in the frame of the machine. The supportingmember '7 isprovided with rack teeth meshing with a segmental gear 9 mounted on ashaft 10 and adapted'to oscil-I late to move the picker back and forth.`The shaft 10 has fixed thereon outside of the supporting plates 3 an arm11 connected by a link 12 to a bell crank 13 pivoted at 14 and provided`with a" cam follower roll 15 cooperating with ing of shaft 10 causes thesegmental gear 9 to also rock clockwise or in other words toward theright and this "in turn will cause the supporting member 7 with the cardpicker 6 to .move forward or toward -the right, thus causing thelowermost card to be fed` through the slot 5 to the feed rollers 25, 26.The shaft 17 has fixed thereon a gear 20 meshing with a gear 21 which inturn meshes with gear 22. Gear 22 meshes with gear 23 which is driven bythe driving gear 24. l

One complete cycle of the shaft 17 causes the card picker to movel onceto the right to feed a cardvthrough the slot 5 and back to the left asin Fig. 1. When the card is fed through the slot 5 'it is grippedbetween. feed rollers 25, 26 and fed by these rollers to the next set offeed rollers 27, 28 which in turn feed it between the plates 29, 30. Thecard is fed downwardly until it is stopped by a gate 31 -mounted on 4anarm 32 pivoted at 33. Fixed on shaft 33I as shown in Fig. -2 is an arm34 connected by link 35 to a cam follower arm 36 having a cam followerroller 37 cooperating with a cam 38 on the shaft17. A spring 39 holdsthe follower against its cam. The cam 38 is adapted to cause the gate 3lto move to the position of Fig. i10 to stop the card between plates 29,30 and to rock -counterclockwise to permit the card to pass out frombetween the plates 29, 30 later in the cycle. At this time the feedrollers 40, 41 will feed the card out from between the plates 29, 30,.A. curved guide plate 42'wil1 guide the leading edge of the card intocooperation with the clips 43 on the card stacker 44 pivoted at 45. Thisstacker is well known in the art and need not be described in detail.The stacker. is actuated by a bevel pinion 46 on shaft 45 and meshingwith a bevel pinion 47 fixed on shaft 48. Another bevel pinion 49 onshaft 48 meshes with bevel pinion 50 fixed on shaft 51 with the gear`21. The timing of the stackeris such that the clips 43 are open' toreceive the card as it feeds downwardly over the guide-plate 42. Theclips then grip the card and pull it into the discharge stack or pocket52.

The turning of the feed'rollers is effected by a gear 53 -mounted onshaft 17 and meshing with a pinion 54 fixed with respect to the feedroller 27. The pinion 54` meshes with pinion 55 fixed with respect tothe roller 28 which is carried on an arml 56 pivoted at 57 and heldresiliently against the card by a` spring 58. An

- idler 59 meshes with pinion 54 and pinion 60 fixed with respect to thefeed roller 25. Pinion 60 meshes with pinion 61 fixed with respect 'tothe feed roller 26 which is carried on the arm 62 pivoted at 57 and heldresiliently by springpressed against the card and in turn pressing the'card against' the roller 40 which is positively driven. Roller 41 iscarried on an arm 65 loose on the shaft 33 and provided with a pin 66which is engaged by an arm 67 fixed on shaft 33. Spring 68 attached tothe arm 65 tends to rock the roller 41 against the card or the roller 40lightly. When the shaft 33 rocks to move the gate 31 to permit the cardto-be fed out the arm 67 engages the arm 'and presses the roller 41firmly against the card to insure feeding thereof. After ythe card 1 hasbeen fed to the position of Fig'. 10 and stopped by. the gate '31 the'sensing pins 69 of which there are four for each column of data on thecard, are permitted to advance against the card.v The sensingpins aresupported at their forward ends in the plate 30, and at their rear endsin plate 70 and also by an intermediate plate 71. Each pin 69 isprovided with a spring 72 resting at one end against a collar 73 fixedto the pin and at the other end against a collar 74 loose on the pinand`resting against thelplate 71.

'I he spring '72 thus tends to press the pin against the card or throughthe'card if there is a perforation therein at that position. A restoringplate 75 resting against the collars 73 is adapted to re- 84 has fixedthereon a gear 85 meshing with a 4gear 86 on the shaft 87 .on which isalso mounted the gear 23. A spring 88 connected to the bell crank 81holds the follower against the cam 83. The cam positively restores theplate 75 to the position of Fig. 1 removing the pins from readingposition to the position of Fig. 1 while the spring 88 moves the plate75 to the left to permit the pins to be actuated bytheir springs to taketheir readings.

The upper sensing .pin 69 has fixed thereon a block 89 having a pin` 90.adapted to engage an arm 91a pivoted at 92 on a fixed support 93. Aspring 94 tends to hold the arm 91a against the pin .90. `Arm95a'pivoted on the arm 91a carries a brush 96aA adapted to engage acommutator 97.

There is one of `these brushes to each of the four sensing pins 69 of acolumnfit being understood that there are several such columns dependingupon the width or `c apacity'of the machine. A spring 98 presses-'thebrush against the commutator. The brushes 96a are held properly spacedyby a comb or slotted member 99. The third pin 69 counting from the topalso has a block 89 cooperating with an arm 91e carrying an arm 95c andbrush 96e. Brush 96o cooperates with the opposite side of the commutator97. The second pin 69 is adapted to control an arm 91h and brush v961)while the fourth pin 69'actuates an arm 91d and a brush 96d. Brushes 96hand 96d cooperate with commutator 97a on opposite sides. When the)sensing pins 69 are rele' sled to read the card operating with a cam 83fixed on shaft 84. Shaft those that find perforations project through asy in Fig. 10 and'rock their respective arms 91. In

Fig. 10 the uppermost and lorvermostl pins 69 have f passed through thecard and have rocked their arms 91a, 91d and have advanced their brushes96a96d along the periphery of the commutators 97,- 97a from the dottedline positions to the full line positions. This' shifting of the brushon the periphery of the commutator causes acircuit to be closed throughthe commutator and brushes at a different time in the cycle of operationof the machine to effect a different control upon the accumulator.

accumulators. In other'words, the time of closure of a circuit throughthe brushes and commutators determines the value to be run into the Theshifting of the brushes in various combinations varies the time ofclosure of the. circuit and thus varies the value which is run into theaccumulator. This is more fully brought'out later. The second and thirdpins 69 have not found perforations in the card and have been stopped bythe .card and have therefore not changed the positions of their brushes96h, 96e with respect to the commutators. Associated with the arms 91are latching members 100 pivoted at 101 as indicated in Fig. 2. Arms 102con- 'nected to latch members 100 are all connected to link 103. One ofthe arms 102 has a projection 102a which is connected by link 105 tobell crank cam follower arm l106 cooperating with a cam 107 on shaft108. A gear 109 also xed on this shaft meshes with the gear 86 foroperation. A' spring 110 holds the follower against its cam. After thesensing pins 69 have taken their readings and rocked their arms 91 thecam 107 (Fig. 2) reaches a position which permits spring 110 to rock thefollower 106 counter-clockwise. This will rock all of the latches 100slightly counterclockwise from the position of Fig. 1 to that of 10.This will hold those of the arms 91 that have moved in such movedposition as shown in Fig. 10 so that the pins 69 may then be restoredand the card fed from the sensing position.

` While the arms 91 are thus latched the readring is analyzed by therotation of commutators '97, 97a. The commutators are turningcontinuously but during the'card feeding and analyzing portions of thecycle'the contacts 111 (Fig: 4) are open. These contacts are controlledby a cam 112 which may be mounted on any of the shafts, as for instanceshaft 17, which turns one revolution for each card cycle of the machine.After reading has beenV taken and the arms 91 set, cam 112 releases thecontacts 111 and permits them to close. Another set of contacts 113 isadapted to be controlled by a cam 114 which may be mounted on the sameshaft as cam 112. Contacts 113 are closed before the end of thecardsensing operation so that when contacts 111 become closed current issupplied to all of'the brushes operating on the commutators. The purposeof the contacts 111, 113 is to supply current to the analyzingcommutators and brushes beginning at a pre cise point in the cycle ofoperation of the ma` chine and stopping at a precise point. By employingtwo sets of contacts as here disclosed, it is possible to accuratelytime the closing of `the circuit and the opening thereof. In thisconnection, it will be readily seen that closing of contacts 111 takesplace when the leaf spring vthereof drops off from the high portion ofthe cam to the lower portion. By adjusting the cam 112 on its shaft thepoint of closure can thus be regu-1 lated very precisely. This closuretakes place after contacts 113 have been closed by their cam 114 whereit will `be'seen .that the cam gradually moves one of the contact leavesslowly toward the yother and the time of closure is not so precise asthat of contactslll but so long as contacts 113 are closed leforecontacts 111, the closure of the y latter will complete the circuit atthe precise time required. On the other hand, the opening of contacts113 takes place when the leaf drops ou still open, cam 112 will opencontacts 111 so that when the contacts 113 are again closed, the circuitwill be open and will then be closed by contacts 111 at the exact timenecessary. This arrangement of double contacts known as make and breakcontacts is very common in this art. Machines of the character disclosedhere are operated through successive cycles and the same series ofoperation is performed during leach successive cycle. For instance, amachine cycle in the present case' would include the time taken to feeda card from the supply hopper 2 to thel card sensing position betweenplates 29, 30 and thenfrom the sensing station to the discharge stack 52below it. During these operations, the analyzing commutators 97, 97a areconstantly rotating but are not performing analyzing operations. Duringvthat part of the cycle, the circuit is open through contacts 111, 113and the commutators are turningffidly. During another portion of thecycle, the circuit is closed through contacts 111, 113 and thecommutators are performing their analyzing functions. Also, during aportion of the cycle, namely, after the card has reached the sensingstation, and before the circuit is closed through the commutators theanalyzing pins 69 take their readings from the card and adiust thebrushes 96 on the commutators. 4The analyzing portion of the cyclecorresponds to the time re. quired for the accumulator wheels to turnone revolution. In other words, the accumulator pinions, to be describedpresently, are adapted to turn one tion'of ten) during the time that ittakes to perform the analyzing functions and they are adapted to beclutched to the driving mechanism during part of the analyzingyoperations depending upon the value to be accumulated. During thisperiod both sets of contacts 111, 113 are closed and at the end of thisperiod cam 114 permits contacts 113 to quickly open.

' The accumulator Wheels or pinions are shown at 115 (Figs. 3 'and 9)and are loose on shaft 116. The accumulator pinions mesh with gears 117loose on shaft 118 which is constantly rotating. Fixed to the gear 117is a clutch member 119 and slidably mounted on shaft 118 but constrainedto turn therewith are clutch members 120 provided with circumferentialgrooves ,engaged by clutch control arms 121 pivoted at 122. Associatedwith each arm 121 is aA control magnet 123 having an armature 124pivoted at 125 and actuated by a spring 126 into position over shoulder124e. of a block 12417 fixed to the arm 121. .armatures 124 which servefas latches thus hold the arms 121 in `position to maintain the clutchmembers 120 out of mesh with the clutch members 119. When the magnet 123becomes energized rocking its armature 124, the respective arm 121 isunlatched andf the spring 127 of contacts 128 rocksthe arm 1,21counterclockwise about its pivot 122 and moves the clutch member 120into cooperation with member 119 so that the gear 117 will be causedto'rotate, thus turning the accumulator wheel 115.

The clutches are, of course, brought into operation at varying timesduring theaadding portion of the cycle but are all de-meshed together atthe end of the adding portion ofthe cycle by mechanism shown in U. -S.Patent No. 1,307,740. The accumulator parts are turned by a gear 130meshing with a gear 131 xed on shaft 108 which as shown in Fig. 2 isturned by the gear 109 cooperating with the gear 86.

Also xed on the shaft 108 are the commutators `complete revolutionrepresenting vthe accumulamaterial and the white areas representconductor Y segments '132 and connections between the segments. Forinstance, all of the segments 132 on the lower edge of the commutator 97are interconnected by a commoncircumferential strip 133 (see also Figure8) while all of the segments 132 on the upper edge are interconnected bya strip 134. The commutator may be divided into a plu- 'rality of equaldivisions which are commonly called points. In the present case, thecommutator is divided into twenty points and itLmay-therefore be statedthat the commutator operates on a twentyvpoint cycle. During ten ofthese points,

the machine isperforming card feeding and sensing operations and thecommutator circuit is open Vat contacts 111,113. During the other tenpoints the contacts 111, 113 are closed and the analyzing operations areperformed. During any one of these latter points in the cycle thecircuit may be. closed depending upon the setting of the 7 brushes 9,6.The laying out ofthe commutator ','tion a circuit will be closed at onepoint inthe cycle of operation and with a different settingl next point,etc.

. including the positioning of the segments 132is such 'that if thebrushes are in a particular posiofthe brushes the circuit will be closedat the The 'segments may be of the same width or extent in theperipheral direction.

,Some'of the points on the commutator have no segments 132 so that theinsulating portions are shown widerat, these places. On the other hand,where two adjacent points on the commutator are provided with segmentsthese segments may be made as one, omitting the intervening insulat-.ing portion and in such instance, the segments are shown wider thanat'the other points. As

shown in Fig. 5 the brushes 96h and 96e areconl` nected to each other bya wire 135. Assuming that card 1 in Fig. "10 is punched to represent thenumeral 6 in the column to be analyzed by the pins 69 there-disclosed,when the upper and lower pins 69 of such column take a reading as inFig. 10 and set their commutator brushes accordingly representing thenumeral 6 and when the commutators haveturned through-the 9, 8, and 7positions to the 6 position the parts will bein the relative" positionsshown in Fig. 5. Here it will be seen that,

presuming ythe ,current tobe entering through the brush 96d, it will`passinto the segment 132,

along the connecting strip 133 to the segment v132 which isnow incontact with brush 96h. From here the current passes through wire 135 tobrush 96o into the segment 132, alongthe connecting member 134, to thesegment 132 with which thebrush 96a is now in' contact. Thus aft- 'erthe brushes have been set and the commutators 97, 97a continue torotate, when they reach the 6 position, current will pass from the line136 (Fig. 4) through contacts 128, magnet 123, to the brush 96d,commutator 97a, brush 96h, wire 135,

brush 96e to commutator 97, brush 96a, and back to the other side of theline 137.

As soon as the magnet 123 is energized thearm 121 becomes released toeffect clutching of the respective accumulator pinion. At this time thespring 127 which actuates the arm 121 opens contacts 128 and the magnet123 becomes deenergized. The particular accumulator wheel will A nowcommence to rotate and will continue to rotate until the end of thecycle when it becomes demeshed from thedriving shaft 118. Theaccumulator wheel will during this time turn an amount equal to thevalueof 6. The construction of the accumulators to effect carrying fromone order to the next higher order being well known in art is not shownin detail here.

I claim: 1. In -a perforated record controlled machine, means forlfeedingr records to the machine, a plurality of card sensing pins foranalyzing a record, a separate brush associated with each pin, 'acommutator associated withv the brushes, means controlled by the pinsfor adjusting the brushes with respect to the commutator and registeringmeans controlled through said brushes and commutator.

2. In a machine of the class described, a plu-J rality of perforationsensing pins for sensing a this column of perforations, arms adapted tobe actuated by said pins, means for latching the arms;A

in'moved position, a brush carried by each arm,

commutator means associated with said brushes` and registering meanscontrolled through said brushes and commutator.

3. 1n an accounting machine, a rotatably mountedI commutator, brushesassociated therewith and aseparate perforation sensing. pin connected toeach brush and adapted to move the latter along the periphery of thecommutator, said brushes and commutator being adapted to control theoperation of the machine.

, 4. In a machine of the class described, an accumulator, a rotatablecommutator having brushes cooperating therewith for differentiallycontrolling the accumulator by closing an electric circuitl at apredetermined time in its cycle of operation, ,means for sensing data onrecord cards,

ysaid sensing means being adaptedl to cause shitting of the brushesalong the periphery of the commutator for varying the time df closure ofthe circuit to vary the control of the accumulator.

5. In an accounting machine, a controlled device, a rotatable commutatorhaving brushes cooperating therewith for differentially controlling'said device by ,closing an electric circuit at a predetermined time initscycle of operation, means for sensing data on records, said sensinglmeans being'adapted to cause shifting of the brushes along the peripheryof thecomm'utator for varying the -time of closure of the circuit tovary the control of said device. t

a JOHN ROYDEN PEIRCE.

